Automatic railway-signal



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

J. M. PEIRGE.

AUTUMATIG RAILWAY SIGNAL.

Patented Aug. 11, 1885.

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2 Sheets -Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

J. M. PEIRGE.

AUTOMATIC RAILWAY SIGNAL.

No. 323,958. Patented Aug. l1, 1885.I

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UNITED STATES PATENT Ormea.

JAMES M. PEIRCE, OF JOLIET, ILLINOIS.

AUTOMATIC RAILWAY-SIGNAL.

SPECIFICATION forming pari.

of Letters Patent No. 323,958, dated August 11, 1885.

Application ined Jury 9, 1884. (No model.)

y drawings.

Figure lis a perspective View; Fig. 2, a side elevation of one ot' theposts, having a portion broken away, showing how its parts are attached;Fig. 3, a top plan view of one of the posts, showing the manner ofturning the lamp; Fig. 4, a perspective view of a broken oft' portion ofthe upper part, showing its mechanism; Fig. 5, a side view of acoilspring used as a pawl and Fig. 6 a perspective view on the oppositeside of Fig. 1.

This invention relates to certain improvements in automaticrailroad-signals, to be used at railroad-crossings or street-crossings,and so arranged as to be operated to lower a flagbar and ring a bell orgong by an approachin g train, and while the train is a considerabledistance from the crossing, and to raise the dag-bar to its formerposition as the train passes the crossing. A colored lamp is used atnight as a signal, and is so arranged as to be properly turned by theflag-bar asl it is raised or lowered. lt is intended that the ilag-barand its operating mechanism shall be placed high enough so a train orcarriage may pass under it without striking it while it is down.

This invention consists of two posts set into the ground, one at theside of a crossing and the other at a considerable distance from thecrossing, the one at the crossing having aiiagbar pivoted to it near thetop, and arranged to be lowered by means of a pawl-and-ratchetmechanism, and raised by a weight on theinner end of the lagbar whenreleased by pressure of a car-wheel on the foot of a groundlever. A bellis attached to an arm, to which the pawl which operates the ratchet isalso attached, and when caused to vibrate will ring as a warning. Theother post has a lever passed loosely through a mortise therein andattached by means of a conical spring, and so arranged that the outerend of said lever may engage with a train at the oil-boxes, or may behigh enough to engage with projections placed on the top of the cars,which causes said levers to vibrate. The opposite end of this leverbears against a vertical arm, and as it vibrates it causes said arm tovibrate also, and by means of a wire connecting said arm, with the armto which the pawl is attached, to the post at the crossing, said arm isin turn vibrated in like manner, which will cause the pawl to operate onthe ratchet'segment and lower the dag-bar, and at the same time ring thebell, as stated.

Referring to the drawings, A represents a post set into the ground atone side of a cross` ing. To the side and near the top of this post ispivoted a segment-ratchet, R, having a flagbar, R', firmly secured toit, as shown in Figs. l, 4, and 6. rlhe outer end of this flag-bar has alag attached, to be used as a signal in the day-time. A weight, W, atthe inner end of said bar is for the purpose of lowering and holdingthat end lowered and the ilag-bar upright after a train has passed. Theweight end ofthe flag-bar is curved, as shown in Figs. l, 4, and (i, sothe weight W will be at one side ot' the line perpendicular with the barwhen at rest, for the purpose of leverage, and be out ofthe way of postA.

At or near the bottom of post A is iirmly secured a spring-arm, D, asshown in Fig. G. To the upper end ot' said arm is attached a springpawl,P, and also a bell, B. The pawl P is set. so that when the arm l) ispulled forward the pawl will engage with the ratchetsegment It, whichwill turn said ratchet a short distance each time said pawl so engages,and when the said ratchet is so turned it is held from turning back ateach stroke or movement of the pawl by a latch, E, pivoted in the post Ain such manner that one end will engage with the ratchet-teeth, whilethe other end projects far enough from the opposite side of the post toform a weight to hold it'engaged with the ratchet-teeth, as shown inFigs. 1, 4, and 6.

K is a ground-lever pivoted to a short post or block, a, near the traskand between the track and post A. This lever K has a foot, m, formed onits end next to the track, and arranged so it will project a shortdistance above the tread of the rail, close to one side of therail, asshown in Figs. l and 6,

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while the end oi' said lever next to post A is pivoted to the lower endof a iinger, F, supported by a proper guide so its upper end will comeunder the latch E.

When the foot m is depressed by the wheels ot' a passing train, it willraise the finger F, which will in turn raise thc outer end ot' latch Eand lower its inner end from the ratchet-- teeth, thus disengaging saidlatch from thc segment-ratchet lt, permitting the bar It to he raised bythe weight NV on its inner end as said weight descends.

A' is a postset into the ground a considerable distance from thecrossing, and has pivotally connected to it near its base an arm, D',which is connected to the spring-arm D at the crossing by a wire, Z, andprevented from being pulled too far that way by a pin, V, set into postA' near the top, as shown in Figs. 2 and 6.

Through a mortise in post A' is looselyr placed a lever, c, connectedwith and held in proper position in said post by a conical spring, S,(shown more particularly in Fig. 2), and so arranged that its short endwill bear against the arm D' and its long end will eX- iend out to oneside of the track, as shown in Figs. l and 6. A shoulder, c', on itsshort end prevents it from being drawn farther through the post. Theouter end ot' said lever c is padded at t, for the purpose of protectionto the parts when en gagin 0*. By thus connecting the lever c with postA' by said conical spring the said lever may be moved about in any orall directions, or pushed back, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, andthe spring will return it to its proper position.

A lamp, L, is placed on the top of post A by means of a standard on thebottom ot' the lamp, resting in a socket in said post. To this standardis firmly attached a pair ot arms, d and d', (shown in Fig. 3,) and soarranged as to be one 011 either side of the Hag-bar R' when said bar isin an upright position. The arm d' is bent on its outer end to form ahook. 'hen the flag bar is lowered, it will, as it descends, bearagainst said arm and force its hooked end around the post A, so it willcatch in a notch, c, in said post, as shown in Fig. 3, thus holding thelamp in a position to expose its danger-light up and down the track orstreet, and hold it there so a jar or shock to the post or bar will notmisplace it until the bar rises, when it engages with arm el, the endoi' which is curved out so the bar will not miss it, and force it back,together with arm d', as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3, to turn thelamp and remove the danger-light from view on the track or street.

The spring pawl P is crooked, as shown in Fig. 6, so it will not berigid in its engagement with the ratchetsegment R, as its movement mayat times be very rapid, and a rigid pawl would in such case bedisastrous to the parts. This 'spring-pawl may be substituted by acoil-spring, P', attached to a frame, J, as shown in Figs. et and 5, andhaving the wire Z connected direct with the spring` by means ofthecross-bar H on the :t'acc end ot' said spring, and so arranged that theupper part ot' the spring will engage with the segment-ratchet andoperate as a pawl.

Vhen the lever cis moved to pull on the wire Z, it will in this instancestretch springP', as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 5, and partially turnsaid ratchet each time the spring is so stretched. The part ot' saidspring which so enga-ges ,is flexible, and will resist a sudden jerk andpermit said ratchet to be moved easily without any jerking.

A knocker-arm, y, is pivoted to frame J at one side, and has anupwardly-extendin g arm which rests against crossbar H, and when thespring' P' is stretched it will cause said knocker-arm to move so itsknocker will strike a gong-bell, B, which is rigidly attached to frameJ, and thus ring as a warning.

The post A' may be short, so lever c may engage with a train at theoilfboxes, as shown in Fig. l, or high enough so lever c may engage withprojections placed on or near the top of the cars, as shown in Fig. 6,and wire i Z may be connected direct with lever c. (See Fig. 4c.)

The operation of this device is as follows l/Vhen a train is nearing acrossing, it will engage with lever c, and as it passes said lever eachcar or projection on the cars will move said lever forward, and spring Swill as often return it, and thus keep moving arm D', pulling on wire Z,which will in turn and as often pull on arm D, causing the pawl P engagewith segment-ratchet l, to turn to to lower the 'liag-bar from aposition it, wn in Fig. 6 to a position shown in Fie. sh o1, and at thesame time keep ringing the bell B at each such pull or stroke, thusringing the bell and lowering its signal-Hag, or, it' at night, exposingits dan ger-light to trains or carriages approaching the track beforethe train has reached the crossing, and as the train passes the crossingthe wheels will depress the foot m, as stated, and permit the weight lVto raise the ilag-bar and turn the lamp to indicate a clear crossing.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows, to wit:

l. In the railroad-signal described, the combination of post A, havingthe ratchet-segment R pivoted thereto, Hag-bar R', spring-arm D', bellB, pawl l), and latch E, with post A', having' the lever c and arm D',connected with arm D by the wire Z, and adapted to operate to lower the'dag-bar and ring the bell, in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

2. In the railroad-signal described, the post A, having thesegment-ratchet R pivoted thereto, iiag-bar 1t', having the weight W,and the latch E, in combination with the groundlever K, pivoted to theblock a, and having the foot m and iinger F, and adapted to disengagelatch E from the teeth of segmentratchet R to permit the liagbar l' torise, in

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the manner specified, and for the purpose set forth.

3. In the railroad-signal described, the segment-ratchet R, having thelag-bar' attached thereto, in combination with the pawl, as described,and adapted to operate the nag-bar by means of lever c and wire Z,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In the railroad-signal described, the lever K, pivoted to the block uand linger F,and having the foot m adapted to he depressed by the Wheelsof a passing train to raise the linger F to disengage latch E fromratchet R, in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

5. In the railroadsignal described, the lever c, connected with post Aby means of the conical spring S, and adapted to have universalmovement, as specified, and for the purpose set forth.

6. In the railroad-signal described,the combination of the lamp L,having` the hooked arms d d', post A, and tilting,` flag-bar R', as andfor the purpose set forth.

7. In the railroad-signal described, the post A', having the arm D',lever c, and spring S attached thereto, in combination With post A,having,` the pawl-and-ratchet mechanism, as shown, connected with arm Dby the Wire Z, and adapted to lower the bar R' and ring the bell B, inthe manner and for the purpose 3o speciied.

Witnesses: JAMES M. PEIRCE.

WM. J. HUToHINs, Tiros.. H. HUTor-HNS.

